ALWAYS WATCHING OUT FOR OUR CUSTOMERS – All the latest news from John Ross Smart Homes

ALWAYS WATCHING OUT FOR OUR CUSTOMERS – All the latest news from John Ross Smart Homes

ALWAYS WATCHING OUT FOR OUR CUSTOMERS – All the latest news from John Ross Smart Homes

11th March 2020John Ross Smart Homes

Always watching out for our customers

This month we are full of the joys of spring… the daffs are coming up nicely and the evenings are stretching out. There’s nothing like that feeling when you realise that you’ve driven home in daylight for the first time this year! No more squinting ahead into darkness (for a few months at least)… instead we get to look out on the beauty of our surroundings as they are bathed in the golden glow of Spring sunshine.

Greater visibility gives us comfort… which is also true of Home Security cameras. Being able to see what’s going on around our properties brings peace of mind when you’re home alone, gives you confidence when you’re away on holiday and even helps you to not miss your Amazon deliveries!

There has been an explosion of internet connected camera products in the last few years – CCTV may have been around for ages but the march of technology has really changed our understanding of what is possible today. Although there are countless DIY cameras out there we prefer to focus on high quality camera systems which we can tailor to our clients’ needs. They’re also extremely secure, so you don’t have to worry about getting hacked!

Our systems are designed specifically for how the client needs them to work – and are rammed full of clever features such as motion detection, tripwire detection, automatic recording, ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition), face detection and recognition.

One of our clients recently asked us to replace an antiquated CCTV system at his property, but he was worried that removing the old system and replacing it would create damage and mess to the walls of his home. We carried out a survey and reassured him that we could find a solution that worked for him, including using the existing cables that he had in place. The end result is a very happy customer who now has a fully updated camera system with HD pictures, the ability to rotate and zoom the main cameras, motion detection, with everything recorded onto a hard drive in the house as well as stored in the cloud… so should someone break in and steal the hard drive, they can still retrieve the images. Not only that, but as well as being able to view the footage via an app, he can also look at it on any TV in his house!

Another happy customer who’s life we have made better, and safer, using our technology.

Top Tech Tip

Did you know that the name and password of your WiFi network can be changed to something more memorable than the factory set default? There’s no need to spend an age repeatedly telling a visitor a meaningless string of letters and numbers (is that an o or a zero? Is that a one or an L?) when you can have something more personal such as “No more Mr Wifi”, or my personal favourite “I believe Wi can Fi”

If you want to know how to change your settings then drop us an email or give us a call.

What’s new

Lithe Audio Ceiling Speakers

This month we are completely over-excited about the new version of Lithe Audio’s in-ceiling Wifi enabled speaker. As well as looking incredibly smart and slick, the best thing about in-ceiling speakers is that they turn your entire ceiling into a giant speaker, so unlike most Bluetooth and wifi speakers the sound quality is not compromised by their size.

But how can this be, the geeks amongst you may ask? Well, in line with the pesky laws of physics (Blame Dr. Brian Cox), speakers make sound by pushing air – and there is a limit to how much air a speaker can push based on its size. Our amazing Lithe speakers use the whole ceiling void as a backbox so can give really great sound through the wide range of frequencies from very low, deep bass, right up to the highest screech of a violin or flute… or as we like to say, “they cover the full Mariah Carey”.

Have you got a ceiling that you’d like to turn into a giant speaker? Give us a call today.

Recap: Dude, where’s my WiFi?

In our last newsletter you may remember that we sorted out our client’s WiFi in his big old Listed house with 3 foot thick walls – so, how did we do it?

Well, we actually created WiFi Access Points (WAP) in nearly every room of the property, all “hard-wired” by cables. Almost all of the cables run externally, cleverly hidden by drainpipes, stone paths, walls and various other clever ideas so that there’s not a cable in sight. This means that no matter where they roam in their home, our clients enjoy perfect WiFi, all at the same speed as if they were standing right in front of their hub.

To modern home dwellers this may sound pretty standard, but believe me, to those in old houses with solid walls this is a real revolution!

Next month: The Reverse-TARDIS Telly

Another client of ours has recently bought one of the latest generation, large Samsung screens and asked us to fit it to his wall.

These new screens are fantastic – in the words of the Mr Creosote sketch, they truly are “wafer thin”. But how do Samsung achieve this? Well it’s a bit of a trick really… they take all the gubbins that normally sits behind the screen and plonk it into a separate box, cleverly branded as “One Box”… so the telly is tiny on the inside, but big on the outside. A bit like the TARDIS, but the other way around.

For installers like us, it’s created a whole new problem… where do we put the ****** box? Well, as usual we got out our sonic screwdrivers and saved the world client with a cunning solution… tune in next time to find out how.

COVID19 UPDATE

We would like our customers to know that, following government guidelines and advice, we have closed the shop and stopped any non-essential installation and service work.

We are still contactable and are happy to offer advice either by phone - 01738566566 or email - enquiries@johnrosshifi.co.uk.
We are happy to chat and see if your problems can be resolved remotely without a physical visit. If a remote fix is not possible, and your situation makes it essential to have the problem resolved, we can assess the possibility of visiting safely whilst keeping within the current guidelines.

We would also be delighted to chat over any plans you have for work required after we return to normal and, as video calls become much more popular, we are happy to offer this option where a face-to-face meeting would be more acceptable.

We value all our customers and friends and are really sorry we can't provide our normal level of service. After almost 20 years of providing service in the Perthshire area we are all finding this very difficult, but please be assured that we will be here for you when normal service resumes in time.